Panama Canal to Reduce Daily Transits as El Nino Drought Persists

The Panama Canal Authority announced it will lower the number of daily vessel passages starting September 3, from 36 to 34, and further to 32 by September 15, due to a severe drought linked to El Nino. The waterway, which handles about 5% of global maritime trade and roughly 40% of US container traffic, is facing depleted water supplies from below-average rainfall in its watershed. Additional conservation measures, including reduced maximum draft for large ships, have already been implemented to address the long-term sustainability of the canal.